This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to work with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program as a Siegele Conservation Science Intern! While the work was physically demanding at times, the variety of projects I got to be a part of filled my summer with endless learning and adventure. I met so many wonderful people and made amazing memories! My journey with this internship allowed me to explore so much of Colorado that I never would’ve seen otherwise and experience all of the diverse natural beauty the state has to offer.
I had 1 week helping with the Louisville Bioblitz, 1 week of monitoring rare penstemon in Eagle County, 1 week monitoring the Pagosa skyrocket down in Pagosa Springs, 3 weeks working on several Statewide Natural Heritage Surveys in Moffat County, Routt County and Summit County, and I ended my summer working on two hitches for the GLORIA monitoring project in Great Sand Dunes National Park. I would definitely recommend bringing a lot of snacks because having little treats throughout the day made every hitch all the more enjoyable!
One of my favorite hitches of my internship was the Statewide National Heritage Surveys (SNHS) in Summit County working in wetlands. We were looking for fens which are a type of permanently saturated wetlands. We drove to different areas and hiked out to less accessible wetlands far off trail. I frolicked through wetlands in the rain, dug up and identified soil cores, learned to use a YSI, learned more about Colorado wetlands and how to identify and record wetland plants. I explored rivers, streams and dams, and saw a lot of wetland animals existing in their natural habitat. I got rained on every day of this week, and I ended every day covered in mud and soaking wet and I loved it! On one of the last days we even saw a beaver!
The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) is an international program focused on monitoring and assessments of alpine biodiversity in response to climate change. The GLORIA project I got to be a part of was a 20-year running research endeavor, and we backpacked into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near the peaks. Every day, we got up while it was still dark and hiked up to the peaks, had our breakfast at the peak and watched the sun rise before spending the rest of the
day setting up the sites and identifying the plants. Within each plot, we tallied and recorded the percent cover of rock cover, bryophytes, bare soil, and plant cover and estimated each individual plant’s coverage percent. Afterwards, we finished the plot with 100 random pin drops. I also labeled and took photos of each site, and it was really fun running around the mountains trying to replicate the old photos. Standing atop the peaks at around 13,000 feet was incredible because the view stretched for miles, and even though it could get windy and cold, it was amazing to work and camp with such a stunning view. I have a newfound appreciation for alpine work, and I consider myself very lucky for getting such an immersive experience in aiding Colorado’s alpine.
This internship is great if you’re looking for adventure and want to contribute to maintaining Colorado’s natural history. As a Restoration Ecology student, this internship provided me with invaluable education and hands-on experience, and I had the privilege of working alongside such knowledgeable and inspirational people from CNHP. This internship also led to my job as an Entomology Assistant Curator at CNHP!
The Siegele and CNHP experience is incredibly unique. I’ve learned so much about myself and what I want to do in the future through this opportunity and had so much fun doing so, I honestly wouldn’t have wanted to do anything else with my summer.
